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A nationwide lockdown will be introduced in Scotland starting at midnight tonight, Nicola Sturgeon announced.
The prime minister told the Scottish Parliament that there will be a legal requirement for people to stay home for the rest of January, and that schools will be closed for most pupils until early February at the earliest.
“It is no exaggeration to say that I am more concerned about the situation we are facing now than at any time since March of last year,” Sturgeon said.
He said that the increased transmissibility of a new COVID-19 variant first identified in the UK means that Scotland’s current Level 4 restrictions may not be enough to bring the R number back to below 1.
“It is essential that we further limit the interaction between different households to stop the spread and get the situation back under control, while vaccinating more people,” the prime minister said.
“In short, we must return for a period to a situation much closer to the blockade of last March.”
If no further action is taken, the Scottish NHS could be invaded by coronavirus patients in “three to four weeks,” Sturgeon added.
“We have an opportunity in Scotland to prevent the situation here from deteriorating to that point,” the prime minister told the MSPs.
“But we must act quickly.”
